How to Be Old

October 1, 2023

Founder of the fashion blog Accidental Icon, septuagenarian Slater explains How To Be Old--naturally, happily, and with self-acceptance. Prepub Alert.

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In How To Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone, TED-talking fashion model Russell explains how and why she helped organize a movement to bring more equity (and less distance between appearance and self) to her industry. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2024
A memoir from the woman behind the popular "Accidental Icon" Instagram account. Slater takes readers for a ride through her starlit 1960s, challenging contemporary stereotypes about age. Along the way, she creates a guide for how to find youthfulness and self-confidence at any age. Arranged in a series of lessons the author has learned during the past decade, the narrative brings us into her spotlight, where both her insecurities and confidences are clear to see. When Slater began the Accidental Icon fashion blog in 2014, her fame soon skyrocketed on social media, and she now has nearly 1 million followers across her platforms. However, it wasn't just her fashion style that piqued interest; it was her vulnerability, wrinkles, and silvery hair that had followers engaged and celebrating her vibe. She didn't look like the typical model, but she was authentic. Slater emphasizes that surface-level beauty is temporary and fleeting, but inner self-confidence can shine through at any age. "I found the line between costume and fashion, experimental yet elegant, rebellious yet dignified, being youthful without trying to look young," she writes. "I suppose this back-and-forth is how I came to be known for having a unique sense of style. It's how I told a different story about how to be old." People responded to her willingness to display herself unapologetically despite her age and the expectations that come with it. The book contains a generous selection of photos revealing Slater's unique sense of style, and the author presents each chapter as a chance to learn from her experiences, showing how "we increase in value as we grow older." Slater's genuine enthusiasm radiates throughout the text; her tales of resilience and about the evolution of her self-confidence suffuse each page, effectively challenging societal constructs about age. A charming, relatable tale about the power of reinvention.

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April 1, 2024
Former social worker Slater celebrates her late-in-life successes and shares tips on aging gracefully in her punchy debut. Encouraged by her mother to live as a “belligerent woman,” Slater entered middle age with a conviction that “how old I am is hands down the most boring fact about me.” In her 50s, she supplemented a hip replacement with a PhD in social work and her first trip to Europe. At 61, she launched a fashion blog, Accidental Icon, which catered to older women who lived “interesting but ordinary” urban lives, and found a sturdy following for her photos and passionate musings on style and design. Now pushing 70, Slater notes that her @IconAccidental Instagram account has nearly 770,000. Much of the books is structured as a manual to help readers achieve the kind of confidence Slater radiates online (“I’m a badass in part because I’m an older woman who is decidedly not trying to look young”), but she allows for flashes of vulnerability, admitting, for instance, the shortsightedness of her onetime mantra that aging “isn’t real” and disclosing her occasional insecurities about getting older. The result is a radiant self-portrait that will charm readers of any age. Agent: Mollie Glick, CAA.